Woman’s body found floating near Manchester

The body of a woman was found floating near Yukon Harbor on Sunday afternoon, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.

Spokesman Scott Wilson said a boater spotted the remains and reported the discovery to local authorities, who then retrieved the body from the water midway between Manchester and Blake Island shortly before 4 p.m.

Wilson said no identification was found on the body, and the gender was only guessed at due to the articles of clothing the victim was wearing.

He said the body was turned over to the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office for investigation, but that identifying the person further will not be easy due to the body’s advanced decomposition.

“(Because of that,) it will be very difficult to determine her identity,” Wilson said, explaining that the level of degradation prevented authorities from obtaining fingerprints as well.

He said the coroner’s office would X-ray the body during Monday’s autopsy, which might provide clues to her identity, such as old injuries, or as to how she died.

Coroner Greg Sandstrom said Monday his office had not yet determined the cause of death, nor identified the body.

“The only thing we know for sure is that it is an adult female,” he said, explaining that several agencies, including King County, were involved in trying to identify her, since she could have floated into the area from across Puget Sound.

Wilson noted the discovery near Manchester was the second finding of a body in Puget Sound waters Sunday.

He said that another adult female was found floating near Liberty Bay, Poulsbo, but the two were considered separate incidents.

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